ARLINGTON – From George Steinbrenner to Derek Jeter, everybody in the Yankees’ family celebrated Joe Torre’s 1,000th win in pinstripes.

“That’s a lot of games,” Jeter said of Torre after yesterday’s 8-5 victory over the Rangers made Torre the fourth manager in Yankees history with 1,000 victories. “Not too many managers can say that. It’s a credit to him. He is one of the best managers in the game and players love playing for him. He deserves it.”

Steinbrenner, who couldn’t get through to Torre on his cell phone in the clubhouse, poured praise on the man he second-guessed at times last season.

“I am very proud of Joe,” Steinbrenner said via PR guru Howard Rubenstein. “He is making the right moves, he knows how to lead the team and is showing great leadership.”

Joe McCarthy (1,460), Casey Stengel (1,149) and Miller Huggins (1,067) are ahead of Torre on the Yankees list. He is 12th on the all-time list with 1,894 wins and needs seven to tie Gene Mauch for 11th place.

“One thousand wins is a lot of wins, especially for a guy (who started) with a two-year contract and to think about all the things that have happened,” Torre said.

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Way to go, Joe

Joe Torre, getting a hug from Jason Giambi yesterday, became the fourth Yankees skipper to record 1,000 victories. Here are the winningest managers in Bombers history: